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Opinions
As chief law officer of the state, the Ohio Attorney General provides written opinions on legal questions at the request of designated public officials on issues arising in the course of their duties. The Attorney General’s Office does not prepare opinions for private citizens. The Opinions Section researches, writes, and prepares for issuance and publication all formal opinions of the Attorney General. For more details about the formal opinions process, please visit the Opinions FAQs.
Opinions prior to 1993 can be found under the Opinions Archive.
The Opinions Section also maintains a listing of previous AG Opinions that have been subsequently overruled.
The Opinions Section can be reached:
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Requested by: Geauga County Prosecuting Attorney
The duties of the county records commission, county microfilming board, and county recorder acting as chief administrator of the county microfilming board cannot be delegated to the board of county commissioners. Because the duties of the county records commission and the county microfilming board cannot be delegated, they may only be transferred pursuant to the procedure outlined in R.C. 307.847. There is no explicit or implicit authority in the Revised Code for the county microfilming board to contract for services with its own county’s board of county commissioners; instead, the county microfilming board is statutorily required to provide these services to the board of county commissioners.
Requested by: Licking County Prosecuting Attorney
The county dog warden has no mandatory duty to accept and impound unregistered dogs voluntarily brought to the county-operated dog shelter by a non-owner. The county dog warden has the discretion to accept and impound registered or unregistered dogs voluntarily brought to the county-operated dog shelter by a non-owner.
Requested by: Scioto County Prosecuting Attorney
Subject to approval by the court of common pleas, the county sheriff is authorized to promulgate rules and policies to deny an arrestee admission to the county jail when the jail physician determines that off-site treatment is required as a matter of medical necessity, and the medical costs of an arrestee denied admission to the county jail are borne by the custodial law-enforcement agency. If an arrestee is denied admission to the county jail based on medical necessity, custody remains with the outside law-enforcement officer and that officer is responsible for transporting and guarding the arrestee at the off-site medical facility.
Requested by: Greene County Prosecuting Attorney
The Ohio Civil Rights Commission cannot authoritatively interpret R.C. 4112.02(G), which does not prohibit operators of public accommodations from adopting policies that limit communal restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms to members of a single sex. Whether a restroom, changing room, or locker room that is open to the public and located in a facility owned by a governmental entity is considered a “public accommodation” under R.C. 4112.01(A)(9) for purposes of R.C. 4112.02(G) is a question of fact that must be determined by the courts. Political subdivisions and their employees can be liable for violations of R.C. 4112.02(G).
Requested by: Ashtabula County Prosecuting Attorney
A county official cannot perform maintenance or make repairs to county-owned buildings and offices and improvements over the objection of the board of county commissioners, and if funds are not being used in the manner for which they were appropriated, the board of county commissioners may stop the repairs and the expenditure of funds. Members of the board of county commissioners have the ability to access county-owned buildings and offices to oversee maintenance and repairs.